Triangles are fictional creatures featured in the novels Infected and Contagious authored by Scott Sigler. The Triangles are an organic being genetically engineered to complete a certain task. Their initial programming contains commands that cover the basics of growth and security. Upon maturity, an overriding directive takes over to complete a highly organized mission.

Origins

The Triangles are infectious alien parasites sent to Earth by the alien race, the Ki, to set up a beachhead and build teleportation gates for their invasion.

Developmental Stages

Introduction

The Triangles arrive at Earth in the form of microscopic seeds sent by the Orbital Craft introduced in Contagious, in the billions, and some eventually land on a human host. They must be consumed and digested by dust mites before they can begin their growth. From there they burrow into the host and read its DNA, so they can perfectly fit their new environment. The host will feel intense itching in the areas where the Triangles have burrowed at this time.

Incubation

Official Tattoo art

The Triangles develop into their next stage, which resembles a quarter-sized white disk with a single tentacle, which wraps itself around the nearest bone. At this stage of growth, the host will develop rough orange scabs on the infected areas. It should be noted that the Triangles can be successfully and safely removed at this time.

Anchoring

The Triangles will then grow razor sharp claw-like hooks from their tentacles to anchor themselves to the bone. This is a defensive mechanism which prevents the host from removing the triangles, which at this time would only injure the host further. As they continue to absorb nutrients from the host, they begin to take shape and push upward. They will appear to the host as slightly raised blueish triangular lumps. They will also use chemical receptors to gauge which one is closest to the host's brain. This particular Triangle will form a neural connection with the host, and will begin to communicate with them (on a related note, the Triangles will emulate their host's personality as they grow stronger).

Sentience

Now that the Triangles have access to the host's brain, they will release chemicals into the host's bloodstream to make them more paranoid and conspiratorial, often causing the host to intensely fear police and military figures. Side effects of this stage may include increased aggression and/or a loss of the self-preservation instinct. At this point, the Triangles will use a limited form of telepathy to talk with nearby Triangles and decide on the most appropriate area in which to build the Ki teleportation gate.

Maturation

The Triangles' next developmental stage is the growth of the eyes and tentacles. Three eyes develop, one on each edge of the Triangle's body. A tentacle will grow from each point of the Triangle. Not long after the Triangles will be ready to hatch. In this process, the mental afflictions caused by the Triangles will usually leave the host with psychosis or too weak to continue living. In most cases, the Triangles inducing a complete shutdown of the host's brain, causing the host to die. The Triangles will then break free from their fleshy prison and consume the host.

They will then travel as quickly as possible to the pre-determined Gate construction site and begin the building. They will fiercely protect this construct and head the attack after the Ki have successfully made contact.

Role in Infected

In the novel Infected, the Triangles burrowed into Perry Dawsey. They attached to his body in seven different parts, including his testicles and slowly became more and more powerful by feeding off of Perry's nutrients. Eventually, the Triangles were able to communicate with Perry by injecting audio signals onto his vestibulocochlear nerve - literally producing voices in his head.

Locations and Names of Perry's Triangles

The seven Triangles each resided in a different location on Perry Dawsey's body. The following table outlines the locations of each of the seven invaders, along with the names given them in Michael Spence's "Infected from the Triangles' Point of View" (a three-part fanfic used to introduce GORE-Line calls during the novel's original podcast and later nominated for a 2007 Parsec):